A toll attendant swiped Rs 4 lakh instead of Rs 40 from a doctor's debit card at Gundmi toll gate on the Kochi-Mumbai National Highway near Udupi, Karnataka. The incident took place at about 10.30 pm on Saturday at the toll booth, which is 18 km from Udupi.

The police have identified the Mysore-based doctor as Dr Rao, who was travelling to Mumbai in his car that was being driven by his driver. At around 10.30 pm, he gave his debit card to pay a toll charge Rs 40. The attendant swiped the card and gave the Point Of Sale and toll receipt to the doctor.

When he received a text message that Rs 4 lakh had been debited from his account, he brought it to the notice of the toll gate staff, but they refused to acknowledge their mistake. Despite trying for about two hours, the doctor was unable to get back the extra money.

The doctor then went to Kota, which is about 5 kms from the toll gate, and filed a complaint at the police station at around 1 am. It was only when the doctor returned to the toll gate with the head constable that the toll booth personnel admitted that the attendant had entered the wrong amount and agreed to reimburse the excess amount by cheque. Instead, the doctor insisted he wanted the entire amount in cash.

Having contacted the senior officials of the collection company, the toll booth personnel made arrangements to reimburse the Rs 3,99,960 in cash at around 4 am. According to the police, the company usually has a daily collection of around Rs 8 lakh at the Gundmi gate.